Water is the most underrated element on fantasy.

[Semiurge]

It has terrible power. One spray of water on the general fly region of one's pants and their reputation takes an immense hit.

 

[CanadianCorndog]

Water is a pain in the ass to make look like water. Transparency, refraction, splashes, wetness, etc. So, it's often avoided or made a major feature to justify the expense.

Yep. But nobody is asking for Bioshock style water effects in RPG's.[/QUOTE]

Maybe you aren't but the publisher, designers, most people on the development team, people who bought expensive video cards and random people looking at screenshots want water to look like water.

 

[gurugeorge]

Lightning/electricity is the truly underrated fantasy school of magic. Travels much faster than a bullet, can start fires just as well as a fireball. If magic systems had any respect for logic, people with lightning spells would be the most fearsome things to fight.

I always gravitate to lightning spells in games. It's real "MUAHAHAHA!" stuff, although the Star Wars association of lightning with the Dark Side always annoyed me - WHY??? Can't good guys go "MUAHAHAHA" too?

Re. the topic: I thought the Watershaper concept in POE was pretty good, and DOS did the various forms of water nicely too. Also, if you're controlling water fully, to the extent of being able to make it disappear as well as come into being, a dehydration spell is just as ultimately devastating as any of the other devastating spells from other elements, at least to organic life. I also agree with what someone said above - that water magic has probably been under-utilized in CRPGs because of the difficulty of rendering water nicely.

 

[d1r]

It's also the most underrated element in Africa.

 

[Brozef]

...Also, if you're controlling water fully, to the extent of being able to make it disappear as well as come into being, a dehydration spell is just as ultimately devastating as any of the other devastating spells from other elements, at least to organic life.

That brings back fond memories of Abi-Dalzim's which stupidly OP in Baldur's Gate

 

[Storyfag]

It's real "MUAHAHAHA!" stuff, although the Star Wars association of lightning with the Dark Side always annoyed me - WHY??? Can't good guys go "MUAHAHAHA" too?

No, they can't. Even outside Star Wars, going "MUAHAHAHA!" is a bad guy perk.

 

[Norfleet]

That brings back fond memories of Abi-Dalzim's which stupidly OP in Baldur's Gate

That's because, mechanically, it's an improved Fireball-type AOE attack. Unlike save-or-die, where enemies are almost always immune to it, enemies are rarely immune to direct damage and therefore you can kill everything by spamming it.

 

[anvi]

I agree with the water thing OP. I rarely see good water magic. Age of Wonders is the only one I can think of that does a good job, you get Liquid Form which is like 99% immune to physical damage, and you can walk on water. Not saying it's better than jesus but... my water mage would give him a run for his money. It also has Geyser and some other good stuff. In EQ the Magician could have a water elemental but not much else with water. DoS has a few water spells but the downside is you have to play DoS.

 

[ExposedBrainMatter]

Fire and water combo al a Izzet in MTG is underrated, where are my steam wizards. Plus blue and red looks cool.

 

[Storyfag]

That brings back fond memories of Abi-Dalzim's which stupidly OP in Baldur's Gate

That's because, mechanically, it's an improved Fireball-type AOE attack. Unlike save-or-die, where enemies are almost always immune to it, enemies are rarely immune to direct damage and therefore you can kill everything by spamming it.

Indeed! Brings back fond memories.

 

[Norfleet]

I agree with the water thing OP. I rarely see good water magic. Age of Wonders is the only one I can think of that does a good job, you get Liquid Form which is like 99% immune to physical damage, and you can walk on water. Not saying it's better than jesus but... my water mage would give him a run for his money. It also has Geyser and some other good stuff. In EQ the Magician could have a water elemental but not much else with water. DoS has a few water spells but the downside is you have to play DoS.

Every "elemental" magic can be OP if you twist the interpretation sufficiently or explore the ramifications. Water, Earth, and Air are pretty much all instantly lethal if manipulated against a normal living being. Fire, similarly, works against pretty much anything. You say there are things you can't set on fire? *laughs in Chlorine Trifluoride*

Any such "element" can thus be used to kill with pretty much equal effectiveness, either through its addition, removal, or manipulation. It's just a question of what the devs want to stick in the game and what numbers they attach. Cuz, you know, all of this shit kills you.

 

[Jason Liang]

Off the top of my head, Water Magic is arguably the strongest in~
- Heroes of Might and Magic 3
- Arcanum
- Wizardry VII

 

[Generic-Giant-Spider]

I just realized this topic is actually one of those fucking "remember to stay hydrated my fellow gamers" messages.

Nice try, Victor. But I'm a fast learner even if it did take me a good week.

 

[Storyfag]

I just realized this topic is actually one of those fucking "remember to stay hydrated my fellow gamers" messages.

Nice try, Victor. But I'm a fast learner even if it did take me a good week.

You should be wary of hydration. I hear spiders drown surprisingly easy.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

That's because Western mind is mostly active (fire) and not contemplative (water) as the Eastern one. Have you noticed that all Japan folklore up to the modern horror is connected to water? Water is the symbol of unconscious. Fire is the symbol of doing shit. Technology vs Spirituality. etc

 

[Storyfag]

That's because Western mind is mostly active (fire) and not contemplative (water) as the Eastern one. Have you noticed that all Japan folklore up to the modern horror is connected to water?

 

[anvi]

I forgot whether AOW had healing or not and it has 2 heals. It's a decent set of Water magic!

Spoiler

• 
  Flood
• 
  Fountain of Life
• 
  Frost Beam

• 
  Geyser
• 
  Great Hail

• 
  Healing Showers
• 
  Healing Water

• 
  Ice Shards
• 
  Ice Storm

L

• 
  Liquid Form (Spell)

O

• 
  Ooze

S

• 
  Summon Frog
• 
  Summon Water Elemental

V

• 
  Vortex

W

• 
  Water Mastery
• 
  Water Walking (Spell)

 

[KörangarTheMighty]

I just realized this topic is actually one of those fucking "remember to stay hydrated my fellow gamers" messages.

Nice try, Victor. But I'm a fast learner even if it did take me a good week.

Heard about this great little place that just opened up, think it was called "The Water Spout". You should check it out.

 

[Maxwell's Demon]

That's because Western mind is mostly active (fire) and not contemplative (water) as the Eastern one. Have you noticed that all Japan folklore up to the modern horror is connected to water? Water is the symbol of unconscious. Fire is the symbol of doing shit. Technology vs Spirituality. etc

Japan knows firsthand the power of water because they are an island, whereas large swathes of the United States are desert. Ironically, the most destructive thing in a desert is a flash flood.

 

[Norfleet]

That's because Western mind is mostly active (fire) and not contemplative (water) as the Eastern one. Have you noticed that all Japan folklore up to the modern horror is connected to water? Water is the symbol of unconscious. Fire is the symbol of doing shit. Technology vs Spirituality. etc

But technolergy requires water more than it requires fire. You can make a steam engine without fire, but you can't make one without the water. And way too much technolergy turns out to be a fancy steam engine. Like nuclear power plants.

 

[Background Character]

who cares man, elemental magic is lame

 

[octavius]

Off the top of my head, Water Magic is arguably the strongest in~
- Heroes of Might and Magic 3

Earth is the strongest. Town Portal and Resurrection are the two strongest high level spells and Slow the most pwerful lvl 1 spell.
But of course Clone can be a game winner as well. But so can Berserk of the Fire school.

 

[Jason Liang]

Off the top of my head, Water Magic is arguably the strongest in~
- Heroes of Might and Magic 3

Earth is the strongest. Town Portal and Resurrection are the two strongest high level spells and Slow the most pwerful lvl 1 spell.
But of course Clone can be a game winner as well. But so can Berserk of the Fire school.

Teleport is nice too.

Also, for Mass Slow you need to get to Expert Earth Magic, AND it can be countered by Mass Haste or Mass Cure. When you are just starting out, Earth is kind of ass.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

Off the top of my head, Water Magic is arguably the strongest in~
- Heroes of Might and Magic 3

Earth is the strongest. Town Portal and Resurrection are the two strongest high level spells and Slow the most pwerful lvl 1 spell.
But of course Clone can be a game winner as well. But so can Berserk of the Fire school.

Earth has the most destructive single attack spell and Fire - several most destructive mass attack spells. But nice try.

 

[octavius]

Off the top of my head, Water Magic is arguably the strongest in~
- Heroes of Might and Magic 3

Earth is the strongest. Town Portal and Resurrection are the two strongest high level spells and Slow the most pwerful lvl 1 spell.
But of course Clone can be a game winner as well. But so can Berserk of the Fire school.

Earth has the most destructive single attack spell and Fire - several most destructive mass attack spells. But nice try.

Destruction spells are insignificant compared to the force of Expert Cloning, Berserk and Resurrection.